Washing machine drive



June 22, 1948. JHQ-AKLEY 2,444,021

WASHING MACHINE D RIVE Filed Sept. 25, 1946 INVEN TOR.

Patented June 22, 1948 UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE WASHINGZMACHINE DRIVE John Oakley, Springfield, Mass.,assign6r='to Per-- kins Machine anil Gear-Company, W est Springfield, Mass.;a\corporation of Massachusetts Application September 25, 1946,.Seria1No.'699;1.)0

(Clam-"77.)

"6 Glaims.

1 This 'iri'vention relatesto improvements in drivin'g "mechanism and is directed more particularly to mechanism for oscillating the agitatorshaft of a washing machine.

'Theprincipal objects of the invention are the provision -of-driving mechanism for oscillating a shaft, such (as the shaft of a washing machine, back and forth through various angles and 'is characterized by means for controlling thecrawl of the "oscillations about the axis of oscillation.

The US. patent to Oakley, *No. 2,388,176, of Qctober 30, 1945, discloses drivingmechanismof the type to which this invention relates. Said mechanism includes driving and driven members having *complemental angularly disposed ena gageable faces. The driving me'mberisreciprosated-by a rotatingmember and is-pressed against the' driven member so that it is=-oscil1ated through variousangles accordingly the pressure varies.

In this way that angle of oscillation maybe "selectedwhich will be best suited for the material be'ing =washed and may vary fromzero to a maximum which' -m'ay be in the neighborhood of two hundred and ten degrees.

Under some conditions with the mechanism according to thisinvention means is provided'for controlling the crawl of the oscillations in such a "way that whenthe oscillations crawl inone "direction or the'other, about the axis of *oscilla- "tion, the crawl is reversed "and .at the same time the engagement of the driving member with the driven member .is not limited to a particular portion-of the periphery of the driven member all of which insures that material being washed will notsbe wound up by :the agitator :or its shaft and the driven :member is worn, if at all, about its entire periphery.

With the :foregoing and various other novel features and advantages and other objects of my invention as will become more apparent-as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and-in the combination and arrangement of parts' as will "be hereinafter more partieu'larly pointed out in the claims hereunto annexed andu nore fully described and referred to in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an inverted-plan'yiew of a washing machine having the novel driving mechanism of the invention associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan'view of the mechanism for controlling -the operation of the driven member;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevational view on the line 3 3 of-Fig. '1;

Fig. '4 is a diagrammatic plan view to explain certain features of -the invention; and

Fig. '5 is a perspective view of certain components of the mechanism.

Referring now-tothe drawings more in detail, the invention will be fully described.

A portion of a washing machine tub is represented'by-2 in an inverted position, the bottom wall thereof'being indicated by 4.

A driven shaft "8 for the agitator of the washing machine extends upwardly through the bottom wall 4 of thetub and is journalled at its lower end in a'housing It. A cover isprovided for the housing but is not shown. Thehousing may be secured to the tub in any well known manner.

A motor is is secured by a bracket construction IE to the housing and-hasashaft l6 rwhich is connected by a coupling to a worm shaft 20. A shaft 22 is journalled in the housing and extends upwardly of the tub for driving a wringer at the upper side ofthe tub.

A worm gear 24 on said-shaft fi is inuengagement with a wormifi associated with'shaft 20 whereby as the motor is inloperation the shaft 22 and worm gear are rotated.

A driving member 28 is pivotally connected as 30 to the worm gear24 and a driven member 1.32 is fixed to the shait =8. The driving and driven members are provided with angularly disposed engageable faces, as showmso that as therdriving member-is reciprocated'backand iorth therdriven member is os'ci-llatedback and forthaccording to thepressure applied to the driving member. By varying the pressure the driven member may .be oscillated through various angles.

A pressure lever-dl) has ashaft =42 journalled in the housing -10 'and'a'slide 44 is 'movable 11011- gitu'dinally of'said'leyer. A hearing member 4'6 "is oscillatable in the slide 44 and slidably :engages the rear side'-of the drivingmemberflfl.

A hub 58 fixed to the shaft #2 has a springdike member 5i] fixed rthereto. operating member 52 -is iournalledina bracketffl fixed to thertub eans-s am na is carried by the inner :end hi the 3 operating lever. An adjusting bolt 58 is in threaded engagement with the outer end of member 50 and is engageable with the cam 56.

The member 50 is relatively yieldable or springlike and as lever 52 is swung in one direction or the other the member 50 is flexed more or less so that the lever 40 acts with more or less pressure, through member 46, on the driving member 28. By varying the pressure the angle of oscillations of the driven member 32 and shaft 8 may be varied. That is, the member 32 may be oscillated from zero angle to maximum angle.

As previously stated, the oscillations of the driven member may, under certain conditions, tend to crawl around the axis of oscillation and cause material to be wound up by the shaft 8 or.

4 lever, 68 counterclockwise the block 40 is moved to the left thereby to direct the oscillations clockwise.

In some cycles of operation or with a certain pressure applied to the driving member to obtain a certain angle of oscillations there may be no crawl or tendency of the oscillations to crawl about the axis of oscillation but there is an inherent tendency for the crawl to develop" at certain pressures and angles of oscillations. By shifting the slide 40 in one direction or the other the crawl is controlled or it is directed in an opposite direction so as to overcome the objectionable j winding up of the material by the shaft or agiby the agitator carried thereby. Or under certain conditions over a period of time a certain portion of the periphery of the driven member will be engaged by the driving member so that the former becomes worn in a spot or spots;

The mechanism now to be described will Control the oscillations and operation thereof in such a way that oscillations crawling in one direction will be directed in an opposite direction while oscillations may take place throughout the periphery of the driven member thereby to obtain uniform wear about the periphery thereof.

An actuator 66) disposed transversely to the axis of shaft is has a portion 62 journalled in said shaft. Said actuator is free to swing relative to said shaft. A bridge member 66 in the form of a U has side stop portions 66 vertically disposed and secured to the shaft 8, see Fig. 3.

A lever St has an intermediate portion 10 disposed above the members 64! and 64 and an outer portion 72 adjacent the driven member 32. Said lever 68 extends loosely through a bell-shaped opening of a fulcrum member M and has an outer portion 16 which extends downwardly through a slot 18 in the slide and is pivoted therebelow at fill in the lever ill, see Fig. 5.

As previously stated, the member at is slidable longitudinally of lever fill. By moving said slide member from one position to another when the oscillations of the shaft 8 are rotating about the axis of oscillations the crawl-will be directed in an opposite direction.

It will be assumed that the drivingmember is being reciprocated back and forth and that the pressure against said member is such as to produce the desired angle of oscillations of the driven member 32 and shaft 8.

The said angle of oscillations is represented by a in Fig. 4. Suppose, then, that the oscillations crawl about the axis of oscillations, say in the direction of arrow 1). As the angle of oscillations gradually works around clockwise, one of the stops 66 of the bridge 64 abutsthe actuator 5:!

and on a clockwise oscillation brings the actuator 60 into abutment with part '82 of lever 68. This oscillation or a succeeding one causes the actuator 6B, which is backed up by stop 66, to swing lever 68 clockwise in the direction of arrow 0.

The said lever 68 being fulcrumed in member M.

tator.

At the same time, it is desired that the driving member operate on the entire periphery of the driven member thereby to obtain uniform wear of the latter. To that end the parts of the mechanism are formed and intended whilst controlling the crawl to allow the shaft 8 to make at least one complete revolution and it may be arranged to make considerably more if desired.

In the event the shaft 8 becomes jammed against rotation since the lever is spring-like the actuator 56 on an oscillationof the shaft may engage and elevate so as to pass under the end 12 of said lever, thereby insuring against injury to the mechanism.

In some cases it may be desirable to pivot the end of member '12 in the side of housing I!) or in some part separate from member 48. The -oper ation will be similar to that of the construction shown in Figs. 2 to 5 inc. but its action will not be influenced by different positions of member 40 or movements thereof. v

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms Without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. Hence, the present embodiments are there-fore to be considered in all respects merely as being illustrative and not as being restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all modifications and variations as fall within the meanin and purview and range of equivalency of the appended claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein,

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination of driving mechanism including an oscillatable driven member and a reciprocable driving member having angularly disposed complemental engageable faces with means for applying various pressures to said driving member toobtain varying angles of oscillation of the driven member and to control the tendency of said oscillations to crawl about the axis of oscillation comprising, a pressure member movable towards and away from said driven member and meansto apply varying pressures thereto, a slide on said member bearing against said driving member and slidable back and forth relative thereto to vary the point of pressure on said drivmg member relative to a plane passing through the axis of oscillation of said driven member and transverse to the direction of movement of said driving member, engageable means carried by said driven member and slide adapted as the osreciprocable driving member having angularly disposed complemental engageable faces with means for applying various pressures to said driving member to obtain varying angles of oscillation of the driven member and to control the tendency of said oscillations to crawl about the axis of oscillation comprising, a pressure member movable towards and away from said driven member and means to apply varying pressures thereto, a slide on said member bearing against said driving member and slidable back and forth relative thereto to vary the point of pressure on said driving member relative to a plane passing through the axis of oscillation of said driven member and transverse to the direction of movement of said driving member, engageable means carried by said driven member and slide operable when said oscillations have crawled in one direction through a predetermined angle about the axis of oscillation to move said slide relative to said plane to direct said crawl in an opposite direction,

3. The combination of driving mechanism including an oscillatable driven member and a reciprocable driving member having angularly disposed complemental engageable faces with means for applying various pressures to said driving member to obtain varying angles of oscillation of the driven member and to control the tendency of said oscillations to crawl about the axis of oscillation comprising, a pressure member movable towards and away from said driven member and means to apply varying pressures thereto, a slide on said member bearing against said driving member and slidable back and forth relative thereto to vary the point of pressure on said driving member relative to a plane passing through the axis of oscillation of said driven member and transverse to the direction of movement of said driving member, engageable means carried .by said driven member and slide operable when said oscillations have crawled in one direction through a predetermined angle about the axis of oscillation to move said slide relative to said plane to direct said crawl in an opposite direction, said means adapted to permit said crawl to rotate at least one revolution about said axis of rotation.

4. The combination of driving mechanism including an oscillatable driven member and a reciprocable driving member having angularly disposed complemental engageable faces with means for applying various pressures to said driving member to obtain varying angles of oscillation of the driven member and to control the tendency of said oscillations to crawl about the axis of oscillation comprising, a pressure member movable towards and away from said driven member and means to apply varying pressures thereto, a slide on said member bearing against said driving member and slidable back and forth relative thereto to vary the point of pressure on said driving member relative to a plane passing through the axis of oscillation of said driven member and transverse to the direction of movement of said driving member, engageable means carried by said driven member and slide operable when said oscillations have crawled in one direction through a predetermined angle about the axis of oscillation to move said slide relative to said plane to direct said crawl in an opposite direction, said and an actuator carried by said driven member engageable therewith.

5. The combination of driving mechanism including an oscillatable driven member and a reciprocable driving member having angularly disposed complemental engageable faces with means for applying various pressures to said driving member to obtain varying angles of oscillation of the driven member and to control the tendency of said oscillations to crawl about the axis of oscillation comprising, a pressure member movable towards and away from said driven member and means to apply varying pressures thereto, a slide on said member bearing against said driving member and slidable back and forth relative thereto to vary the point of pressure on said driving member relative to a plane passing through the axis of oscillation of said driven member and transverse to the direction of movement of said driving member, engageable means carried by said driven member and slide operable when said oscillations have crawled in one direction through a predetermined angle about the axis of oscillation to move said slide relative to said, plane to direct said crawl in an opposite direction, said means including a lever connected to said pressure member and fulcrumed on said slide and an actuator carried by said driven member engageable therewith.

6'. The combination of driving mechanism including an oscillatabledriven member and a reciprocable driving member having angularly disposed complemental engageable faces with means for applying various pressures to said driving member to obtain varying angles of oscillation of the driven member and to control the tendency of said oscillations to crawl about the axis of oscillation comprising, a pressure member movable towards and away from said driven member and means to apply varying pressures thereto, a slide on said member bearing against said driving member and slidable back and forth relative thereto to vary the point of pressure on said driving member relative to a plane passing through the axis of oscillation of said driven member and transverse to the direction of movement of said driving member, engageable means carried by said driven member and slide operable when said oscillations have crawled in one direction through a predetermined angle about the axis of oscillation to move said slide relative to said plane to direct said crawl in an opposite direction, said means including a lever connected to said pressure member and fulcrumed on said slide and an actuator carried by said driven member engageable therewith, said lever being yieldable so as to allow said actuator to pass therepast under certain condi-- tions.

JOHN OAKLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,194,430 Litle, Jr Mar. 19, 1940 2,274,950 Croft et a1 Mar. 3, 1942 2,342,435 Strauss et al Feb. 22, 1944 

